Q&A: Katherine Webb, Most Distracting Fan

It only took about four minutes for the country's attention to turn from a mediocre National Championship game between Notre Dame and Alabama, to Tide quarterback A.J. McCarron's beautiful girlfriend, Katherine Webb, who so astonished ESPN commentator Brent Musburger that he nearly stopped what he was doing all together. The reigning Miss Alabama USA, who actually studied at rival Auburn (and don't think this Tiger didn't notice), has since increased her Twitter followers by more than 150,000 and been offered phone numbers by pro players like Darnell Dockett. While we didn't invite her for wings, we did get to catch up with her by phone on Tuesday to talk about her take on the game, the crazy Twitterverse and her boyfriend, who you may or may not have noticed light up the scoreboard during last night's game. Oh, and Alabama won. In case anyone cared.

LINDSAY MCCORMICK: So, what did your last boyfriend do to impress you?

KATHERINE WEBB: It's been so long! Can we come back to this question?

LM: For myself, and other Auburn fans around the globe, how do you not only date an Alabama fan, but their quarterback?

KW: The majority of my family is Auburn fans, and I grew up watching Auburn football and that's always who I've cheered for. Of course, I love football, but I'm not one of those die-hard fans that never miss a game or with rooms devoted to team colors. At the end of the day, it's just a game. It's more about the person.

LM: Are you sure you're from Alabama?

KW: Yeah, I was born and raised here.

LM: What about during the Iron Bowl?

KW: I haven't thought that far in advance, yet.

LM: Well, then you certainly aren't thinking this far ahead, but if you two were to have a child. We already know it would be victorious, but would it attend Auburn or Alabama?

KW: If it was a boy, then Alabama, since their dad was an Alabama quarterback. If it was a girl, then I'll let her choose. [Laughs.]

LM: While most fans stopped watching the actual game well before the first quarter was over, you were probably still enjoying it. Were there any things you noticed that A.J. could improve on?

KW: It was a blowout! I feel like he got gypped out of the MVP award a little bit. At the same time, the whole team came together and played to the best of their ability. There were a few other standouts as well, but A.J. was amazing. Probably 95 percent of his passes were completed. They also ran the ball well. That offense totally demolished Notre Dame, and the defense held them well. I wasn't expecting for it to be as much of a blowout as it was, but I'm okay with it.

LM: Seeing as how a blowout game like this could help his NFL Draft status, is it wise for him to go back to Bama for another year?

KW: If he has the opportunity to stay another year and grow and develop more as a quarterback, before going into the pros, then why not? Quarterbacking Alabama to national championships in back-to-back seasons has never happened before, so he certainly made history last night. I applaud him for making that decision to stay.

LM: I'm sure Nick Saban does as well. Does he ever crack a smile?

KW: On the field, Saban has to be in that role. He's focused and serious and wants to win. But, Saban and A.J. obviously have a very special relationship. A.J. is probably one of the only guys that can really bring out Saban's true colors. They kid around with each other. It's really cute to see them cut up together. Of course, he smiles. He not as stone-cold as everyone thinks.

LM: That may be breaking news, which you, as of late, would know something about. How aware were you during the game that your Twitter count had gone through the roof?

KW: My phone was actually dead during the game. I had absolutely no idea that the reporters had made a comment about me and his mom. We were both flattered and thought, "No way, that's so cool." You know iPhone batteries are not the best ever.

LM: Well, now that you know, what are your thoughts on Brent Musburger giving you guys a lot of… um, air time?

KW: He got a little bit of backlash for his comments, and some people said they were creepy. If he had worded it different and said we were hot, or sexy, or commented on our body parts, it would have been completely different. I didn't take any offense to it, because I think it's okay for a man to tell a woman that she's beautiful, no matter what age.

LM: So does that mean you are now on Team LeBron?

KW: No, I never followed him. People said he followed me, but apparently then unfollowed me on Twitter later, since he was getting so much flack about it. I was talking to A.J.'s mom about this earlier and none of this stuff matters to me. At the end of the day, I just want to be with him. That's all.

LM: Just like Darnell Docket wants to be with you. Isn't that every girl's idea of the perfect date — wings and a visit to the local strip club?

KW: That is not attractive at all. It's very disrespectful and A.J. did not like it at all. Clearly, the news says I'm his girlfriend, so it's very inappropriate for another guy to tweet me and purposely try and create drama.

LM: Now that we know how not to win your heart, what is your idea of the perfect date?

KW: It just depends on the person. If the person you are with wants to go outside and have fun, then that, or if they are more of a homebody, like A.J. is, then just laying around at home and watching movies is ideal, too.

LM: He's probably planning a nice evening not involving wings as we speak. These football players get so much credit for how hard they work, but pageants are difficult to prepare for, too.

KW: It's funny, because football and pageants are completely different, but they are also a lot alike in different ways. They are both competitions and you can look at pageant girls as players competing against each other in a game. Both are a lot of hard work. In pageants you are evaluated from head to toe and it's obviously all about looks, and as vain as that is, they can also bring you lots of opportunities to do amazing things.

LM: You already won Miss Alabama USA. Now what?

KW: I've started modeling professionally, but now that I'm in a relationship with A.J., I'll probably end up moving back home, because it would be extremely hard for me to be away from him all the way across the country. And I'm definitely willing to make that move for him.

LM: Are you working with Donald Trump? He's a Jets fan, right? Maybe A.J. to the Jets one day?

KW: I actually spoke with him earlier today, and he was wanting to meet with both of us if we make it up to New York. I'm working with his publicist trying to handle all of this media madness right now. And A.J. really wants to play for the Dallas Cowboys, so we'll see what happens.

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Lindsay McCormick (pictured at left) has covered the NFL for ESPN The Magazine and CBS. She is the former host of "The Fan" on Comcast SportsNet, where she was the sideline reporter for the Portland Trail Blazers. And she'll be back right here on The Culture Blog every week with Monday Morning Cheerleader. Plus, stay tuned for Tom Chiarella on Monday Night Football (now with more Peyton!), Chris Connelly on Steve Smith, and more. Also: beer.

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